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Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 616

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dress up show up
Good morning!

So…what is the Monday Poll?

Excellent question! It isn’t, contrary to its name, an actual poll, like with little clicky buttons. It’s just a list of five more or less random questions I’ve been posting on this blog every Monday morning for the past quadrillion years (since 2007). I love reading your answers, and it helps me get my week off to a good start.

    1. Do you put ketchup on a hot dog? ?

    Heck yeah, homegirl! But I’ll take it on the side because I have to make room for the rolling hills of relish… Ketchup + relish = LIFE.

    2. Can you touch your toes?

    I can, but I’m not a naturally flexible person at all. I have hella tight (but not in a good way) hamstrings, so it took a lot of work and stretching to get there.

    I started to see improvement in my flexibility when I started stretching every night about six months ago. I aim for about 20 minutes in front of the TV, and WOW! What a difference! I can finally touch my toes, and — bonus — I don’t have as many aches as I used to.

    3. How many shampoo bottles are in your bathroom?

    Uh…more than I care to admit? But seriously, I think it’s seven, and all but one of them, an Aveeno baby shampoo/body wash, belong to me, ha ha ha!

    El Hub ends up using my Biolage one.

    4. Are your parents still around?

    They are, and I’m thankful for it every day.

    5. Three favorite eyeshadows at the moment?

    OK, so each one of these is technically a duo, so I may be “creatively” answering this question, but lately I’ve been loving NARS Kalahari, NARS Alhambra and NARS Madrague.

    I’ve been working my way through a NARS palette I made for myself ages ago with, yup, you guessed it, mostly neutrals, and I just realized that I could probably make it through the rest of my life with it.

    Old-school NARS is the best!

    Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

    Karen

    P.S. Sending you good vibes today. Have a wonderful week. ?❤️?

    P.P.S. Here are the questions to copy/paste with your answers in a comment. Talk to ya soon.

    1. Do you put ketchup on a hot dog?
    2. Can you touch your toes?
    3. How many shampoo bottles are in your bathroom?
    4. Are your parents still around?
    5. Three favorite eyeshadows at the moment?

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 596

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Dude, I can’t even tell you how many times I watched Tabs climb something or jump on something with a hand on my heart, and just thinking, “Oh, no, he’s gonna fall!”

He was just so incredibly awkward when he climbed things, but also bizarrely brave. I guess this is normal cat behavior?

He was always that way, too. When we lived in that apartment in Mill Valley, and Tabs was a stray and would come around at random times throughout the day, and sometimes I’d get home from work or grocery shopping, and he’d come bounding down the hill behind our place like a majestic puma until he got to a spot where he would leap to the top of a narrow wooden fence, and then walk along the fence, which was about 10 feet off the ground, until he could hop down to a set of stairs and walk up to me.

Every. Single. Time he walked on that fence, one of his back feet would inevitably slip and he’d almost fall, and I’d have both of my hands covering my mouth, like “Oh, no!”

But he never did fall. He just almost fell about a hundred times.

Oh, but he did fall from other things, like his cat tower…

The first time I watched him ungracefully fall from his tower, he dropped like a sack of potatoes. I thought, “Uh…aren’t cats always supposed to land on their feet?”

No, I guess not, because he sure didn’t! He literally landed on his back. It was the least graceful thing I’ve ever seen a cat do, and he did it more than once! I think he was humiliated whenever it happened because he would get up from the floor grumbling and walk out of the room without making eye contact with me.

He was beautiful and brave and always loved climbing things his entire life, even though he was not a good climber. In fact, I would characterize him as having…questionable agility.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Saturday Surfing, Leap Day, 2020! ????

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A NARS palette I made for myself, which I plan to give lots of TLC to this weekend

Happy Saturday, sweet friend. ? How’s it going? What are you up to this weekend?

I have a pretty packed agenda on this end because the Coywolf turns four on Monday (can you believe it?), when she’ll be in school, so we’re doing the celebrating this weekend. I’m making her annual celebratory birthday lasagna, also some cupcakes, and tonight we’re going to Disney on Ice (very excited about that!).

Also, while all of this happens, I plan to be wearing that NARS palette up at the top. In my quest to clean and streamline my makeup collection, I rediscovered it. I made it a while back and realized it needs more love. ???? So love it shall have.

Oh! — I almost forgot it’s leap year. What are you doing for your extra day today? Any leap day birthdays out there? Inquiring minds want to know.

And now, onward to our weekly reading…


Yes, Taylor


The OGs


Who knew messy buns could have so much variety?


Purr-fection

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

A Fab Friday With Rosy Brown Lids and Lips + Mauve Cheeks

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mac keep stijl

I swear, in real life this eye makeup is not as orange as it looks in these pics…

I think the bright top (J. Crew, found at The Rack last fall) is throwing a monkey wrench in the mix.

Hmm… I should probably just be grateful I’m dressed in something that makes me appear to be a real, live grownup. It’s all about the little victories, you know? ?

I was going for a springy pinkish brown for this look but ended up more summery orange… Oh, well! I like it.

mac keep stijl

I’m wearing several pieces from the new MAC Loud and Clear, and Glow Play, collections, which I’m still (clearly, ha ha ha) into. If you run across something you love, I’d suggest picking it up sooner rather than later because things are either selling out quickly or have already sold out.

One of my coworkers from the bakery is also a MAC gal, and she barely was able to get her hands on one of the lipsticks (Baroque the Internet), so don’t hesitate, MAC-aholics!

One more item of note about this look: I blended the blush I was wearing on my cheeks into my into my crease, an old trick to tie your lids and cheeks together in a neat little bow!
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NARS Kalahari Love

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nars kalahari
Love ya, NARS Kalahari!

They say, if you love something, set it free, which I guess makes sense if you love butterflies or toucans, but in the case of makeup, if you love something, I say you should talk about it ALL THE TIME, which is why I’ve been raving about NARS Kalahari for years!

Kalahari eyeshadow duo is perfect for lightly defining your lids. One side is a shimmery rosy bronze, and the other side is a shimmery taupe — two colors, granted, that you can find in almost any line, but here’s the kicker: NARS found a way to avoid all of the typically problematic side effects that befall so many shimmery shadows.

For instance, Kalahari is reflective, but it isn’t frosty, so fine lines aren’t even a thing. When you sweep and swirl it on your skin, a sweet, bronzed glow remains. It’s very “J. Lo running errands in her velour track suit.” Casual, but still noticeable. (This is a good thing in my book.)

Here’s one of my favorite ways to wear it:
Mix the two shades together with a domed shadow brush, then apply from lash line to crease (or just above the crease if your eyes are hooded like mine). Build it up if you want more color intensity, but don’t worry — this is eyeshadow that won’t look heavy, since the powder is very delicate and fine.

Next, wet that same brush, and apply more of the mix on the mobile part of your lid, which is the part of your eye that “blinks.” Leave it a few minutes to dry, and work on the rest of your face. Once you’ve almost gotten to the end — I usually wait until I’m done with almost everything, including blush and lipstick — take a clean tapered blending brush, and gently rock it back and forth in your crease and along the outer corners to blend.

nars kalahari

If you want, you can also rim your lash or water lines with chocolate brown eyeliner, which I did for these pics. I also smudged a cooler taupe liner (Urban Decay’s Mushroom) on the bottom lash line ’cause I like the subtle contrast of tones.

Makeup worn in this look

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New Glasses!

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kate spade pink glasses costco

My new pale pink Kate Spade glasses sashay into a room before I do, but that’s what I love about them! Costco Optical FTW! When you unmistakably want to be the girl with the glasses, then statement glasses are the way to go.

kate spade pink glasses costco

kate spade pink glasses costco

kate spade pink glasses costco

If you stumble on these frames somewhere (I found them at Costco), don’t hesitate. They’re substantial but not heavy, and if you have a low nose bridge like I do, the nose pads prevent the frames from sliding down. ?

SO HAPPY WITH THESE! ??

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

How a Sharpie and 5 Seconds Can Completely Change Your Perspective on Your Makeup Collection

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neutral palettes sharpie
It’s a whole new world.

A couple weekends ago, I reorganized the drawer where I keep all of my neutral eyeshadow palettes. (Honestly, would ya expect anything else from me? A neutral eyeshadow closet perhaps?)

In the process, I discovered something surprisingly simple but deliciously helpful. With a Sharpie, on the back of each palette, I wrote the year the palette entered my collection.

Doesn’t sound revolutionary, right? Well, what a difference five seconds and a Sharpie can make!

SHARPIE DATE: WHY I STARTED DOING THIS

Short of carbon dating, I have no idea how old a lot of the makeup in my collection is… Some things could be in the decades (I know!), because I’m usually not a stickler for adhering to suggested expiration dates and guidelines.

And since I like to hoard makeup collect makeup and keep it for posterity, I don’t always know what’s fairly new or ridiculously old.

While reorganizing my neutral palettes, I was having a darned-near impossible time discerning between what could realistically stay and what absolutely needed to go, but seeing the dates on the palettes — and realizing just how long I’ve been holding on to some of them — made it crystal clear.

BORROWED FROM THE BAKERY

This idea to write dates directly on my makeup with a Sharpie came from my part-time gig at the bakery.

When we store food, everything and anything that enters any of the storage areas — dry storage, the fridge, the freezer — always, always has an expiration date written on it with a Sharpie, if it doesn’t have an expiration date on it already.

Also, whenever food gets stored, the newest items go in the back, and the oldest ones go up front, which ensures that the older items get used first.

I borrowed these ideas and implemented them for makeup.

“EXPIRES ON THIS DATE”

Now, if you’re super strict with the expiration dates for beauty products, you could do a version of this where you write “Expires on this date” on back of your compacts, on the bottom of your lipstick tubes or foundation etc., and if you want to “next level” it, you could even use the dates to sort your makeup by putting the oldest items in front to make sure you use them up first.
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Essie Expressie Quick Dry Nail Polish in Crop Top and Roll, Before and After 7 Days

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essie expressie crop top and roll
Essie Expressie Quick Dry Nail Polish in Crop Top and Roll, before and after seven days

The “after” photo reminds me of the enchantment bewitching the self-checkout monitors at Target! I swear, those cameras could even make Dolly look haggard (and she’s practically invincible, in my book).

So, since the Essie Expressie polishes are quick drying, I wasn’t expecting this to be a super long-lasting mani, but these two layers of Crop Top and Roll held up better than I thought they would. They held up nicely over Connor’s mid-winter break, part of which which I spent chasing butterflies and birds with her and swinging on the monkey bars at the playground.

The really noticeable chips didn’t appear until day four, mostly around the base and tips of my nails, especially on my right hand (I’m right-handed), and the shine from the built-in top coat dulled over the week, but overall the mani looked good through the end of the week.

essie expressie crop top and roll
Crop Top and Roll in all of its day-one glory!

I have to say, it’s pretty good for quick dry, although I’d advise against waiting a full week to swap it out. I think four days is the max, and that’s fine with me, since the longest I usually ever get to keep the same polish on my nails is three or four days.

I have a friend who swaps out her polish every three days, so if you’re like her and you don’t wanna bother with a base or top coat (they have ’em built in), give it a try! ?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

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